Expert Dialysis: The Future Of Clothing E-Commerce

Recently, Nie Linhai, deputy director of the Department of e-commerce and information technology of the Ministry of Commerce, said: "last year, China Electronic Commerce The total volume of transactions is close to 6 trillion, equivalent to 13% of GDP. It has effectively promoted domestic consumption growth. The report on the application of e-commerce in China's apparel industry in 2011 shows that in the second quarter of 2011, the scale of China's online retail market reached 192 billion 400 million yuan, of which clothing sales reached 44 billion 500 million yuan, an increase of 8%, an increase of 68.9% over the same period last year.

　　 clothing As the most consumer concern, online shopping products are growing. The traditional clothing industry, which once flourishing, is facing enormous challenges from the Internet. Is to find ways to catch up, or stick to the city to remain unchanged, and every choice has its own logic behind it. Perhaps who can see clearly the shortage of e-commerce companies on the Internet, and who can understand the opportunities contained in tradition can win new victories.

　　 There are drawbacks in pure network based clothing business operators.

Many Internet users saw that the whole category was too large and difficult to gather popularity. After that, they turned to e-commerce in the vertical field. The clothing industry was especially popular with its high profits and wide audience. However, there are obvious misunderstandings in many pure network providers.

　　 First, the purpose of the above cities is to collect money. Business is not to provide customers with better products and services (or as a by-product), but to enable companies to successfully cash in the stock market. PPG is a typical example. PPG, founded in 2005, has become a shining star in the field of e-commerce with its low-cost bundling strategy. It has been accompanied by huge advertising investment, which has made PPG the highest peak in two years after its establishment. The company has planned IPO, and all kinds of business initiatives are even more for expansion. Blindly want to make a big listing PPG product quality problems in the late, the company also lost the trust of customers. In early 2010, the "DELL of clothing industry" fell to the ground.

　　 The second is the lack of innovation in enclosure mode. Many Internet Co still believe that electricity providers provide customers with an infinitely extended "shelf" on the Internet, that is, long shelf mode. Therefore, letting customers know more about electricity providers and expanding their contact with customers becomes the first problem they think needs to be solved. Then customers see ads that are all over the world, and "invest, advertise, price war and occupy the market". First lose money and so on, and occupy a large proportion of the customer's dependence, and then start charging, then you can make big profits. The way of thinking is to do the market. This led directly to the current electricity supplier operation is mostly in a state of loss. Although customers benefit in the short term, this mode hurts investors' interests. In the long run, it does not benefit the healthy development of the industry.

　　 Third is becoming more and more important. Pure website started by the electricity supplier once considered "light assets" company, the reality is just the opposite server, personnel, operation expenses, but also include warehousing, logistics distribution. "No shop" is only for the customer interface. At the same time, many online business operators have been planning "down the net" gradually -- setting up offline experience stores, and gradually they have become very "heavy". Light assets are only concepts. In addition to selling front desk from the Internet to the Internet, other links have not decreased. In particular, low cost leads to a large number of purchases by customers, and storage and transportation occupy a lot of resources. Even if the Internet can provide more accurate customer supply and demand information to improve the turnover speed, it is impossible to achieve complete zero inventory. The purchase volume is slightly larger than the volume of shipments, otherwise it will affect the customer purchase experience due to the loss of goods.

In view of this, more familiar with the network operation of the electricity supplier in addition to the lack of understanding of the clothing industry, its own problems are also many. Comparatively speaking, traditional clothing enterprises have their own advantages in touching the net.

　　 Inherent advantages and new opportunities of traditional garment enterprises

"Better understanding of customer needs, Brand influence "E-commerce is not the main industry" in my view is the traditional clothing enterprises to enter the field of e-commerce advantages.

First of all, many years of experience in the garment industry have made traditional clothing enterprises more aware of market changes, and can effectively arrange production and sales according to the off-season and peak season. Compared with the Internet industry, which is familiar with website operation and network business mode, the traditional clothing enterprises that know the needs of customers undoubtedly have great advantages. Many years of shopping malls make them have sensitive market smell and quick adjustment of production responsiveness. The accumulation of creativity, R & D, design, and manufacturing and management in the competitive environment revolves around the real demand of the market, and to a large extent avoid the problem of blind variety and total operation of e-commerce. Distribution offline stores can also serve as an experiential store for the electricity supplier. This advantage of zero cost conversion is hard for many Internet business operators to match.

In fact, having brand influence is the advantage of traditional clothing enterprises. With the development of China's reform and opening up, the Chinese garment industry has changed from the "three to one" survival mode to the "private brand oriented" production and operation mode. At the same time, domestic clothing brands also have great influence in the minds of local consumers, which become their third advantages. With the power of the Internet, traditional brands can expand their customers' recognition to online, so that customers can have more chances to contact and understand themselves. Although some of the website's clothing business operators have also promoted their own "brand" advantages, a recent survey shows that the main reason for customers to patronize is "low price", while the "website brand advantage" is ranked fifth.

Third, the main advantage of not taking e-commerce as the core is another advantage. Traditional clothing enterprises have a steady source of profits. Meanwhile, many companies "touch the net" merely provide themselves with a way to contact customers and marketing channels. Overall, the electricity supplier has never been the main direction of traditional clothing enterprises, whether it is Spain's ZARA, Japan's UNIQLO, or China's Lining and Mei bang. Some people think that this is a disadvantage factor for traditional clothing enterprises to develop e-commerce. I do not agree with this statement. The traditional e-business, which is not centered on e-commerce, has a peaceful and tranquil mentality. As a result, traditional e-commerce enterprises will not compete for expansion because of the development of moderation. The development of moderation may be more conducive to the long-term future of enterprises.

Of course, there are advantages while carrying out Internet business, traditional clothing enterprises also face many challenges. In addition to the choice of mode (to do or to outsource), it is necessary to choose suitable business talents, effectively balance the network channels and offline channels, and some traditional clothing enterprises also choose the "wait-and-see" attitude because of the above difficulties.

In any case, the attempt of traditional clothing enterprises to intervene will change the pattern of the current electricity supplier competition, that is, from investment type to Operational type 。 The logic of the former is "spoil the last one, and the sole survivor makes rules and makes a lot of profits", so it can only increase investment by external investment, and then further valuate to attract investment. It is very difficult to achieve real profit in the short term. Many websites have closed down. After all, the final victory is far from reality. Not everyone has the chance to stick to that day. The latter, that is, the operation of e-commerce, is the traditional clothing enterprises to enter the mode of electricity providers, they are not eager to expand very quickly, more is to rely on the original advantages of steady and stable operation.

E-commerce will undoubtedly be a part of our future life, but it will only be a tool of operation rather than a business. For traditional clothing enterprises, e-commerce is a rare opportunity to develop and expand their territory, but at the same time, it should be noted that it is only part of the business rather than the whole content.